'Bound for the Promised Land'

'The Generations of the Sons of Israel'

*Joshua 3:2

"Ehyeh" I Am

 

*Numbers 23:19, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

We all have spent time with people that are a joy to be around. Every word that rolls off their tongue seems to bring laughter. Their whole outlook on life is filled with positive energy. They never seem to be concerned when trouble arises because there is always good in every situation. With smooth words and quick witted tongues, these people seem to draw others like a magnet.

Being around them is pleasing to the soul and soothing to the spirit. It's like a breath of fresh air and a cool summer's breeze. We enjoy being in the presence of someone who has a kind word to offer and a soft shoulder to cry on when things just don't go our way.

Days of trials, fear, and concern, however, can cause negative effects to a person's demeanor. It can change even the most positive person into someone totally unpleasant to be around. Suddenly the most delightful person to be with can become someone who makes you groan when you hear their voice or see their face.

After the children of Israel left Egypt they headed east toward the wilderness of Sin. *Exodus 16:1-3, "Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, in the wilderness. And the sons of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the LORD'S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Only forty-three days after their departure from Egypt and they were ready to turn back because of their stomachs.

They had seen all the wonders that God did in Egypt to deliver them. They had come out with all the spoils of Egypt. They had seen God part the Red Sea and crossed over on dry land. They had watched the armies of Egypt drown with their horses and chariots. They followed the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of a cloud by day into the wilderness. Yet they were more concerned with what to eat than the place where God was leading them. The promised land was nowhere in sight and all they could see was wilderness.

*Exodus 16:4-5, "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. And it will come about on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily." God had heard their grumblings and complaining and provided what they thought they needed. So the manna did not stop until the day they came into the land of their inheritance.

Israel moved through the wilderness for two years, yet their clothes and shoes never wore out. They were never ill and their eyesight never dimmed. Every battle they had fought had been won in a glorious victory. They rested when they were tired and they moved with the very presence of God. Everything they had need of was given by the One Who said, "I Am that I Am".

But the hearts of the sons of Israel could not feel what their eyes could not see and out of the recesses of their hearts came their grumblings. They grumbled when there was no food. They grumbled when there was no water. They grumbled when they had no meat. They grumbled against their leaders and they grumbled against their God.

When they arrived at the promised land they refused to enter in and possess the land of their inheritance. Ten of the men they sent to spy out the land saw men of giant stature. What they reported to the sons of Israel was that they were as grasshoppers in the eyes of the people who dwelled there. It didn't matter that the land was as the Lord had promised; a land flowing with milk and honey.

*Numbers 13:17-33, "And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: And see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.

 

So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

 

And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

 

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."

 

*Numbers 14:1-4, "And all the congregation lifted up their voices, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness! And why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.

 

Time and time again Israel's sight was turned back to Egypt. They were not willing to follow the God Who had delivered them from bondage. So God turned them back to the wilderness for forty years. A year for every day they spied out the land, until every one of the grumblers and complainers had died because of their unbelief and disobedience.

Traveling through our lives can be just like Israel's plight in the wilderness at times. One minute we can be on top of the world and the next we are down in the mud pit grumbling and complaining. Controlling our tongue can be a difficult task if we do not check our thoughts before we speak. Our tongue can become a flame that can completely consume our life when it becomes bitter and full of anguish. It can keep us wandering out in the wilderness unable to arrive at our appointed destiny. When the words of our mouth interfere with the innermost desires of our heart we are most miserable.

There is a loving God Who desires to spend time with us in His presence. There our joy is complete. When our eyes are focused on Him, then the words of our mouth will reflect what we see. When our ears are attuned to His promises, then all that the tongue will sing are words of blessing.

P Trusting our heart is not a difficult task when we put our faith in the hand of someone who loves us. Israel was expecting a deliverer, a messiah, who would conquer their enemy, drive him out of the land, and give them the spoils of war. They weren't expecting a husband who had returned for his espoused wife.

*November 9, 2004